The Clarkston Girls Varsity Volleyball stayed strong as they went onto regionals this Saturday.
In their first game, they won 3-2 against Troy. They continued in regionals against Marian where they lost 0-3.
“I’m going to miss my seniors to death. They added a lot to this year and this season. I think I have a lot of young kids who have that fight and that spirit and have seen what it takes to get here, to get this far. I think they will be able ready next year to step right in.,” said Coach Kelly Avenall.
The regional match began with the Lady Wolves playing against Troy.
In the first set, Troy gained the lead and kept it, beating Clarkston 25-15.
But after getting a feel for the competition, Clarkston began the second match with a five-point lead before Troy scored their first point. Clarkston won the set 25-14.
By the third set, both teams had a feel for what the other could do, and the score stayed within a few points of each other. With a point from blocking from their side of the net and the ball going out of bounds, Troy received the points they needed and won the set 25-22.
The fourth set was a repeat of the previous ? both teams stayed within a few of each other. Jilian Locricchio got two points for Clarkston when Troy was unable to return two of her hits. Then, Emily Parkin set the ball for Johanna Kupe. Kupe sent it over the net and Troy missed it. After the miss, the gap continued to widen until Clarkston had an eight-point lead and won 25-17.
With both teams tied, they played a fifth set, which they won 15-11. Kupe had 11 kills and 5 blocks. Lauren Gardner had 6 kills.
The Lady Wolves advanced to their second game, against Marian. Marian won their previous game against Fenton, 3-0.
In the first set, Clarkston got an early lead, but Marian quickly caught up and leapt ahead in points. Marian won the set 25-15.
The second set was a repeat for Clarkston. They were ahead in points until Marian caught up and stayed ahead, beating Clarkston 25-14.
With Marian leading 2-0 and one more set to decide the game, Avenall told the team, “I want you to walk away feeling proud of what you did today. Don’t feel like you left anything behind.”
The third match began and Kupe helped her team get ahead on points. The gap between points slowly closed until both teams were tied at the 19th. After a long fight from each side, Marian got the point and remained ahead of Clarkston. Marian won the set 25-21 and won the game 3-0.
“We haven’t really seen competition like that. They kind of got us out of our game plan. Our game is being able to get out serves. We kind of got away from us today. We struggled on that,” said Avenall.
“Oh my goodness, good competition,” said Marian coach Irick Gardner. “I expected good competition. I didn’t expect this team (Clarkston), this team I didn’t know. In the back of my mind I knew who they beat. They won the OAA and they beat Oxford. I knew we were in for it, I just was hoping it wasn’t going to be as tough.”
“I was very impressed,” said Gardner.